Is social media a health hazard?
Social media was a hot topic in the U.S. this week as two states’ governments moved to reduce social media usage, particularly among younger generations.
During a public address, New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams deemed social media a “public health hazard” that is “fuelling a mental health crisis”. Advice from the health department suggested children and teenagers not be given access to smartphones and social media platforms until at least 14 years of age, urging parents to promote healthy behaviours around device and platform use.
“Companies like TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook are fuelling a mental health crisis by designing their platforms with addictive and dangerous features,” he said. “We cannot stand by and let Big Tech monetise our children’s privacy and jeopardise their mental health.”
— Eric Adams, Mayor of New York City
Meanwhile, down in Florida, a bill advanced in government to ensure social media platforms aren’t available to people under the age of 16, and the addition of increased age verification for everyone over 16. The bill also demands the social media platforms use a “nongovernmental, independent, third-party not affiliated with the social media platform” to verify users’ ages.
When the bill went to vote, it was a staggering 106-13 bipartisan vote in favour. Fiona McFarland, a Republican state lawmaker who co-sponsored the bill likened the increase in dopamine from social media use as “digital fentanyl”. Like the New York City mayor’s reasoning, the aim is to reduce mental health harm on young people.
Several other U.S. states have begun similar initiatives, including Utah, where social media usage was banned without parental consent for those under 18 years, and minors could not use social media apps between 10.30pm and 6.30am.
So, is this all achievable? It’s a tough one since we work in, and benefit from the industry of social media as marketers. However, the logic of these laws are inherently clear and we can’t disagree that social media has caused major impacts to mental health, no matter someone’s age.
Here are some thoughts from our team:
Sarah: The proposals in the U.S. come at a time when parents are definitely thinking about the long term effects of social media for their kids. As a parent of young kids, screen time is already an issue and it's easy to see the effect on their mood almost immediately when screen time is limited. I think the recommendations are a step in the right direction for society and the younger generation. It feels like taking responsibility for creating the modern version of smoking. In terms of the flow on effect on marketing, I suspect there will always be ways to get around it, but for the greater good, I hope some of these recommendations come into play and are widely accepted.
Sophie: These laws just make me think back to early Facebook days when you could easily manipulate the birthday on the sign-up form to show you were older than the 13 years of age minimum. I think the focus on the mental health epidemic is important and necessary, but I am skeptical at how governments can enforce people to not use the platforms. Someone will find a loophole! The objective should be on better education around social media usage and promoting positive health behaviours so social media is supplementary, not all-encompassing.
Laura: As a thirty-something who has been on social media since the days of MySpace, I know just how addictive social networks can be. In recent years, I have had to take steps such as turning off notifications to ensure I limit my scrolling time as I know it is a mental health trigger for me.
Since becoming a mum two years ago, my concerns are now about my children growing up and asking for an Instagram or TikTok account. My stance will be that if all they are using it for is to post selfies, pose in a mirror or dance to the latest TikTok trend looking for likes and comments, then I don't want them on there. It's my hope that by the time my toddler reaches her teenage years that social media platforms have stronger measures in place that protect the mental health of youth. In the meantime, I feel the proposed laws are extremely positive and I'd love to see Australia go down a similar path as it should be a lot harder than it is for teenagers to get a social media account. As a teenager, I didn't have mental health struggles, but I know that a lot of what I have experienced in my adult years can be attributed to the addictive nature of the platforms I use, so I want to protect my kids as much as possible through to adulthood.
Pen: As a millennial on the cusp of social media use in my late teens, alongside a lifetime of attempting to unlearn the negative impacts of body image in marketing, I was all for controlled viewing with an updated algorithm to better serve minors, and now it's great to see age restrictions entering the chat as the exposure could potentially be mentally damaging. However, in order to restrict underage users, it seems they require a certain level of information from users to verify age which could lead to a violation of privacy which is also an issue in its own right.
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